Hollywood actor to join Welsh soap after learning language

Hollywood actor to join Welsh soap after learning language2 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleCharlie BucklandBBC WalesHans ObmaUS actor Hans Obma is set to join the cast of Welsh-language soap Pobl y Cwm after learning the Welsh languageA Hollywood actor is to join the cast of Welsh soap Pobl y Cwm after learning the language.Hans Obma has worked on several well-known series including Better Call Saul, The Vampire Diaries, and Criminal Minds, but his most recent venture is across the pond in the fictional village of Cwmderi, based in south-west Wales.Inspired by his Welsh grandmother, Obma, from Wisconsin, USA, says Wales has become his "second home" while filming for the 51-year-old S4C soap."It's been quite a journey," said Obma, adding his grandmother was "such a cherished person" and because of that, Wales and the Welsh language has always been meaningful to him.Hans ObmaObma says one of his favourite places in Wales is the Llŷn Peninsula in GwyneddHis grandmother was originally from Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, said Obma but never spoke Welsh herself, and moved to the US after World War Two."I had the honour of visiting Wales with her some years ago and her Welsh accent came straight back to her," he said.Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, he added: "For me, the fact of learning a language and then using a language is exhilarating, there is nothing I've enjoyed as much as this.""I need to be on the top of my game acting in Welsh," he added.Hans ObmaObma pictured with his family at a reunion in Whitchurch, Cardiff, in MarchObma couldn't reveal too much about his character in the series, but said he played an American, so retains his accent, but the show is 97% in Welsh.Pobol y Cwm, which translates into English as People of the Valley, is the BBC's oldest television soap, having first broadcast on BBC Wales on 16 October 1974. It moved to the Welsh-language channel S4C in...